"I used to mingle with the women, and by degrees, according to the
licentiousness of their thought, we would enjoy our pleasure. Soon
the women found that they had no more occasion to go out for their
dalliance; and even the sober-minded girls among them became involved.
They did not dare to say anything, for fear of the scandal; and also I
had a drug which I applied during the night to their faces, stupefying
them so that they allowed me to do as I liked. When they recovered
their senses it was too late, and they dared not protest. On the
contrary, they used to bribe me with gold and silken stuffs to keep
silence and to leave their house. Ever since then--and I am now
forty-seven years of age--I have never again put on a man's garments.
I have traveled throughout the two capitals and the nine provinces,
and always when I see a beautiful woman I contrive to go to her house.
In this way I accumulate riches with but little labor; and I have
never been found out."
"What an astonishing tale!" cried the fascinated Flowering Mulberry.
"I wonder whether I could do the like."
"One as beautiful as you are," answered the other, "will be taken for
a woman by everyone. If you wish me to be your instructor you have
only to come with me. I will bind up your feet, and teach you to sew;
and we will go into every house together.
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